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Garber, commissioner of Major League Soccer, has stated that Beckham’s project to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Florida is looking like an ever increasing possibility.
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Don Garber and David Beckham / Getty
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Don Garber, the man at the top of the Major League Soccer (MLS) commission has given his strongest hint to date that retired English soccer superstar, David Beckham is drawing closer to his goal of establishing a soccer team in Miami, Florida.
Speaking at a press conference held during the MLS SuperDraft meeting held in Philadelphia, Garber hastened to add that while the league was not quite ready to make any awards regarding Beckham’s plans to establish a team to play in Miami, anticipations were that the commission would be in a position to making the announcement “on what’s going on in Miami’’ within the first week or so of February. The decision, Garber pointed out would be dependent on whether Beckham’s group will be capable of coming up with a viable stadium plan that will be acceptable to the MLS executive board.
Garber told the media that he had been visiting Miami on a number of occasions, in conference with the potential owners and especially trying to finalize a stadium plan.
David Beckham, one of the most popular and famous figures in Global Soccer as well as being a major box office draw, spent three seasons playing in the MLS with Los Angeles Galaxy. As part of his agreement, Beckham was apparently provided West the opportunity to buy an expansion franchise for an MLS team at a deeply discounted rate, believed to be in the region of $25 million, with the average franchise costing around $100 million.
Beckham, no slouch in the field of business as he was on the soccer field, has formed a consortium with his business manager Simon Fuller and Marcelo Claure, owner of the locally-based Brightstar Corporation, and they are believed to be putting together a package that will see the leasing a parcel of land stadium situated at the southwest corner of the Port of Miami, and funding from their own capital, a stadium that will initially seat 25, 000 soccer fans, and hopefully extend to more in this part of the noted states, which has a large hispanic population, particularly known for their passion for soccer.
Don Garber was appointed as Commissioner of Major League Soccer in 1999 after spending 16 years with the National Football League.
A member of the United States Soccer Federation board of directors, Garber has spent his entire working life involved in the sports industry, working in a broad range of positions not only in administration but also in marketing and the media.
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